


The Winner Is

by Measured



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-27 10:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5044303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured/pseuds/Measured
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty minutes into Steam Link and chill, and she gives him that look... then kicks his butt at video games.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Winner Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leidolette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leidolette/gifts).



> [Introducing The Steam Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mraRO_BNQG4). For Leidolette in Trick or Treat 2015. The title is a reference to the Devotchka song.
> 
> It's been reported that he really does brush her hair back near the end. People are also reporting seeing him leaning in for a kiss as well.
> 
> This technically doesn't fill your request, but the others do, and I couldn't contain my feelings about that ad. Consider it an extra.
> 
> There's a reference to [this contract line](https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/b/b3/Plng_give_contract_rare_scout_05.mp3?t=20150703014543), because I had to.
> 
> Betaed by Kikilicious.

 

He was seriously off his game today, in many, many ways. She just smelled so good, and looked so cute there, smiling more than he'd ever see her smile, and all because of him, and how damn bad he was playing today. Every laugh, every time she pushed up her glasses and it'd feel like his chest was going to explode. And not because he'd fallen on a sticky bomb, or there was a bird caught in his chest this time. He'd downed some pre-game Bonk, but funnily enough, being near her made his heart rate higher than even tons of sugar and radiation. Every so often, she'd wrench her controller and brush her arm against his and he'd forget everything in the room but her. Once, he'd even felt her hair at the side of his neck when she'd leaned forward. 

So he'd skid out, both in the game and off the screen. His mind was constant stuttering and words he couldn't quite say. Stuff somebody just couldn't say on the first date, but felt like it would burst out of him anyways.

Stuff like _You're so damn pretty_ he could probably say, but it would lead to _I've never felt like this anybody, and I don't think I ever will. This is the top, this is real, and this is how I want to be for the rest of my life._

Even though he'd read a mountain of books, he still wasn't sure if boyfriend privileges came with the ability to rest against the crook of her neck and breathe in the scent of her, if he got to run his fingers through her hair and leave little kiss and fingerprint marks whenever he wanted.

Just catching her perfume had been like a drug to him these days. He'd run into another woman wearing it out it Teufort, and felt the rise and fall of excitement as he realized it wasn't her. It felt almost like a crime, someone else walking into this one little space of paradise he'd found.

She bumped into him, pulling him out of his thoughts and plans, and to just how badly he was playing. He flipped over, just as she raced by him, the goal in sights. She looked so damn happy. He'd help overthrow countries and fill whole rows of graves just to get her to smile like that again.

"Eheh, you're going to eat my dust, and you're going to _like it_ ," Miss Pauling said.

"This just took one hell of a kinky turn, but man am I into it," Scout said.

She laughed, and shot up the ramp, spinning completely out of control and across the other side of the map. He caught a boost and charged straight at the ball, getting his first clean shot.

"This goal is mine," Scout said. A little shield shown over the goal as he managed to save a little dignity. At least she wouldn't beat him four to nothing.

"Good one," she said. 

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Scout said. 

"That's the only one you're getting, though," she said.

"Oho, and what if I win? What do I get then?" Scout said, his voice turning suggestive.

"Then you get to keep your high score for another day, at least until I have free time. I am going to top your score. In fact, I'm going to top all the things," she said.

"Including me?" Scout said suggestively.

"Especially you. I saw all those records with _ASS_ on them in the local arcade. Well, your _ASS_ is mine," Miss Pauling said. She caught herself, flushing, as she just realized what she said. "I mean, your records." 

Any thought of winning or the game was lost at that point. He dropped the controller to the couch, and put his arm about her shoulders. "So, Miss Pauling, about this toppin'," he began.

"We're still playing the game. In fact, I'm about to wreck your high score. And when I do, I'm going to announce it over the intercom during tomorrow's match," she said. 

Not quite the topping he was thinking about, but he could roll with it. "Aw, damn," he said. He pulled back, but not before he had one last parting touch of pushing the hair that had come loose behind her ears. He'd been dying to do that for so long, it felt like just a minor victory to touch her. He'd like to think in his peripheral view he'd seen her shudder just slightly at the brush of his fingers, but it could've been a trick of the light.

Back in the game, she'd already gained on him, and was guiding the ball straight for the goal. He'd just run out of boost, and was leaving skid marks all across the ground.

"Four to one!" She lifted up her arms in a cheer. The controller fell to her lap, almost sliding off onto the floor.

His score board was so bad that he knew the minute she read those over the loudspeaker, he'd be the laughingstock. He'd been bragging about his Rocket League skills for ages, and all it'd taken was a classy, brainy girl in glasses and there went all his skills, and common sense, for that matter.

Honestly, he didn't even care. Even months of being the butt of every joke on the base would be worth it to spend just a few minutes with her.

Back in the day, he'd thought of her as this kind of severe assistant girl, but in a super hot way. Now he was realizing that she was so much more. She was funny, and kind of dorky, enthusiastic about guns and slaughtering people in a way which was both disturbingly hot and alarming. Pauling the ice queen may have started his fantasies, but Pauling the girl playing beside him wasn't just a girl he'd fallen completely for, but someone who was quickly becoming his best friend.

"Guess I'll just have to serve up a slice of humble pie for me, because you kicked my ass good. Probably the most fun I've ever had gettin' my ass whooped, though," he said.

She leaned back into the couch. "Oh, god. I haven't had that much fun in...ever, I don't think," she said.

"Ever? I seriously gave you the best? Because I can seriously raise the bar," Scout said.

"Ever," she said, and set her controller aside. "And, I'd really look forward to that. I mean, as long as you don't steal briefcases to make it happen."

"Nah, I ain't repeatin'. I'll make it a big surprise. Somethin' so big, it'll go down in history," Scout said.

"Like the Taj Mahal," she said.

"Sure, like that," he said.

"You're going to build me a tomb?" she said.

"Okay, _not_ that," Scout said.

She chuckled. "Good to know."

He clicked save replay on the menu. If he had his way, he'd bottle up this moment and replay it, not just visuals, but the way she made him feel. From the rush of his pulse around her, the scent of her skin, and every smile. The closest he got was a bottle of her perfume, and a replay saved to watch her kicking his ass at video games over and over.

She glanced up at the clock, and pushed herself up off the couch. "Oh, damn. I have to get to bed, or I won't get any sleep at all. I've got an early morning disposal to do," Miss Pauling said.

She started towards the door, then as if she'd forgotten something, she rushed back to him.

"Here's for the one goal you managed to score," she said. She leaned in and gripped his shirt tight enough to bunch the red material, and enough to show some skin. His hat and headpiece was knocked off clean off. Before he could even process what was happening, (Or tell a great line about her finally getting to see what great abs he had) her lips were on his. It was such a quick kiss, that he barely got a chance to respond before it had finished. 

In the seconds while he tried to figure out if he'd imagined the whole thing, he could only gape at her. "Wait, I didn't realize what you had planned--"

She grinned. "Just like those four times I got goals in ahead of you?" she said.

"Pretty much, yeah," Scout said.

She leaned in for one last kiss, and this time he was ready. Pushed down into the couch, he held her tight against him. There was this giddy and intense feeling, starting from his lips and spreading across his chest, like a shooting star. His hands splayed up her back. He could feel her bra strap through her purple blouse. Instinctively, his hands wanted to go down. Toy beneath her skirt, slip in the holes of her tights until he could pull them down real slow.

_One day, that's coming off. But first, I'm gonna treat you right, even if it takes years to get anywhere past first base._

He stroked her cheek, and gazed on at not just _a_ girl, but _the_ girl. Each second was one stolen away. In the most gentle, intimate thing he'd ever done with a girl, he pushed up her glasses from where they'd fallen down.

"I finally did it," she said, seemingly more to herself than anything. "I really needed to do this, and I finally did it."

"Wait, you mean you've been wanting to do that as long as I have?" Scout said.

"Probably. Does three years count?" Miss Pauling said.

"More like six years," Scout said. 

"Oh, you win," she said.

"I'm the king of waitin'," Scout said. "Goin' to get me a crown made."

"I'm glad you waited," she said. She flushed slightly, as if she'd accidentally spilled an important secret. "But, I've really got to got." She disentangled from him, and made her way towards the door again. "

"Yeah. I get it, Cinderella. It's midnight, gotta get home...Seeya next year," Scout said disappointedly. 

She peered back around the wall. "Are you up for working with me tomorrow?" 

"Oh, hell yeah. Of course. What time do you want me?"

She gave him a thumbs up. "Good. I'd say right after the matches end. I will be looking forward to it."

Instead of going back to the game, Scout went over the replay once more. He remembered every mistake caused by her closeness, the scent of her, and the touch of her skin. All to fill the hours until he could see her again.


End file.
